Ethiopia is Africa's oldest independent country. It is also one of the world's poorest countries. Almost half of its population live well below the poverty line and around 5 million Ethiopians cannot produce enough food for themselves.
Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for 80% of total employment. Farming is often disrupted by conflict and drought. More than a quarter of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Among the most destitute communities are nomads in Ethiopia's Somali region. The region is also home to tens of thousands of refugees who entered Ethiopia to escape a ten-year conflict in Somalia. Rains have failed in the Somali region since 2003, and about 85% of the region's people depend entirely on their livestock for survival.